In a major policy change to Japan’s previously-established nuclear fuel cycle, the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) said this week that it plans to amend the nation’s Designated Radioactive Waste Final Disposal Law. The legislation currently mandates that spent nuclear fuel be sent to the Rokkasho plant in Aomori Prefecture, where it will presumably be reprocessed for reuse in nuclear reactors. However, problems at the Rokkasho plant have been rampant, and the plant has never operated at full capacity since it first began operations in 1993. In the meantime, an estimated 14,000 tons of radioactive spent fuel have built up around the nation, and some plants will completely run out of storage space within the next four years. Assuming that Japan plans to eradicate nuclear power usage by 2030, there will no longer be any need to recycle spent fuel; instead, METI officials say that the new legislation will allow for burying the radioactive waste. However, no permanent burial site has yet been identified, even as Japan’s reactors continue to create approximately 1,000 tons of spent fuel each year. The move signals the government’s realization that public opposition to nuclear power continues to grow.

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare is raising concerns that many of the 3,000 workers at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will soon reach legally-allowed radiation exposure limits. Experts warn that the situation could result in a workforce shortage, as the government struggles to decommission both the crippled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant as well as other aging reactors around the nation. Japanese law mandates that workers be exposed to no more than 50 millisieverts over the course of one year and no more than 100 millisieverts total over five years. (Source: NHK)

Officials from the Environment Ministry are meeting with municipal leaders in Fukushima Prefecture this week to reevaluate decontaminating forests there. Previously, the Ministry announced it would only decontaminate within 20 km of community areas, despite the fact that over 70% of the prefecture is covered with forested land. However, local residents protested , expressing concern that leaving so much radioactive land untreated will affect reconstruction efforts and could contaminate water supplies. (Source: NHK)